A New Release from Marquis Classics
The Jasper and Jupiter Quartets: Mendelssohn/ Visconti/ Golijov
The new double string quartet album recorded by the Jasper and Jupiter string quartets is a thing of beauty. The quartets are made up of siblings, spouses, and longtime friends, as described in liner notes: “There are siblings—J Freivogel from the Jaspers is the younger brother of Jupiter members Meg and Liz Freivogel; spouses— Rachel Henderson Freivogel and J are married in the Jaspers, and Daniel McDonough and Meg are married in the Jupiters; and longtime friends—Nelson Lee and Karen Kim were apartment mates while they were college students in Boston, and both they and Sam Quintal are enduring friends and colleagues of all of the quartets’ members, with relationships stretching back two decades.”
This closeness, built on bonds of family and friendship over decades, is evident in the way the players match each other’s tone, vibrato, and phrasing. Listening to them play is like listening to siblings singing together: multiple voices, one sound. This is the most evident in the 2011 piece, “Eternal Breath,” by Dan Visconti. “Eternal Breath” was commissioned by the Freivogel parents, Bill and Margie, to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. The Freivogels wished the piece to include all their children and their children’s spouses, all but one of which are professional musicians. In Visconti’s words, “Eternal Breath is based on a simple “breathing” phrase, which becomes longer and more elaborate as the expanding melody is passed around the entire ensemble. The idea of the breath of life passed from one generation to the next, as well as the expansion of the family through marriage inspired the development of the initial, chant-like material. Accompanied by a drone which marks the rise and fall of each musical “breath”, the melody moves through a reverberant and glowing atmosphere until everyone joins in playing the same overlapping phrase, inflected with their own individuality.”
The piece, scored for two quartets and a shruti box (a cousin of an accordion), is haunting. Interesting harmonies do not always resolve, but rather bleed like watercolors into the next phrase; groups of notes shift like a cinematic kaleidoscope. A delay pedal effect created by violins repeating phrases microseconds behind one another is particularly lovely. The performers match their tones phenomenally, and emotive details are organized down to the merest hint of vibrato. The piece builds in intensity to a gorgeous climax, then all the voices splinter and come back like chirping birds in harmonics before melting into an airy textured drone to finish.
Osvaldo Golijov’s piece, “Last Round” (1996), is a different flavor entirely. Written as tribute to the Argentinian tango composer Astor Piazzola, “Last Round” is tango-esque and full of passion. Scored for a nonet (two quartets plus a double bass, performed by bassist Michael Cameron), the first movement builds to a frenzied call and response between upper string pairs before breaking down in register, tempo, and dynamics, only to rebuild to the dramatic climax. The movement ends with a glissando and moves directly into the second movement. This movement features a slow, lyrical, melody that moves around the upper voices while the lower voices keep a hypnotic pizzicato pulse. The middle section waxes romantic, full of lush harmonies, rich violas, and a persistent bass heartbeat. Even rubato sections feel anchored, contrasting with the floating fluidness of the Visconti.
The most familiar piece on the album is Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, composed when Mendelssohn was just sixteen years old. This piece is pure joy, and the performances of the Jasper and Jupiter Quartet members rise to the occasion, infusing each phrase with optimism, elegance, and energy. The first movement feels wonderfully balanced, dynamically: the melody is never overpowered no matter which voice carries it, while at the same time the accompanying voices are engaging and vivacious. The ethereal second movement features a marvelous contrast in tone between the bagpipe-like lower strings in the minor opening measures and the upper strings, which are warm and angelic. The third movement is effervescent and effortless while extremely precise; moments where a soaring phrase comes out of the bubbling texture to float on the surface are particularly fine. The fourth movement is at its best when the Jasper and Jupiter members draw attention to multiple voices playing the melody in unison or octaves, letting the wickedly fast accompanying eighth notes burble away like energetic steam. The quote from Handel’s Messiah (“And He shall reign forever and ever”) is presented with a playful spirit, but not in a way that draws focus from the larger picture of the movement.
This album is a study in stylistic contrasts: Mendelssohn’s clarity and brilliance, Visconti’s diffuse color palette, and Golijov’s strident passion. It would seem, however, that the Jasper and Jupiter Quartets have focused their energy not on what makes these works different, but rather the joyful thread unifies them; be it a youthful joy, a quiet joy, or a primal one. The performances captured here are artistically nuanced, executed with gorgeous technique and plenty of personality. In this time of COVID, making art and experiencing joy are both acts of defiance; the Jasper and Jupiter Quartets are defiant in all the right ways, and invite us to join in their joy.
New from Westerlies Records:
Theo Bleckmann and The Westerlies’ ‘This Land’
In the seemingly relentless movements of resistance and public outcry in recent years, one can be quickly overwhelmed by the moment and wonder if it will ever end. However, from the Tea Party of the American Revolution, to the Tea Party of the 21st Century, from Stonewall to Homestead, resistance to perceived oppression has always been a profoundly American activity. And throughout this history, music has found a way to help people to organize, demonstrate, and resist what they perceive as oppression. With their newest collaborative release, This Land, Theo Bleckmann and The Westerlies have created an aural document that lends context and history to this music, connecting the most recent music in our current social maelstrom to protest songs of the past. At the same time, these songs are paired with tracks that seek to provide refuge or solace, healing the injuries as they are uncovered.
The collection starts out well with an arrangement of Joni Mitchel’s 1969 release “The Fiddle and the Drum.” Originally sung A cappella by Mitchell, Bleckmann’s version provides a powerful accompaniment from the Westerlies’ brass quartet (with Andy Clausen & Willem de Koch, trombones; Riley Mulherkar & Chloe Rowlands, trumpets). The song is more composed than arranged, with a beautiful dissonance that marks the confusion and concern of the singer. In the tradition of the best covers, Bleckmann augments the musical expression by isolating and enriching the emotion—this one of the defining characteristics of the arrangements in this collection.
The collection of Woody Guthrie tunes, including “I Ain’t Got No Home in This World Anymore,” “Tear the Fascists Down,” “Two Good Men” and “The Jolly Banker” are all remarkable in the way they are set. The sound, hearkens back to the brass bands of the Second Great Awakening (think Charles Fry or even the temperance movement) and ties this early 20th Century musical tradition to Guthrie’s slightly later social calls for change in his folk music. Similarly, Trombonist Willem de Koch arranged and juxtaposed the popular Salvation Army Hymn “In the Sweet By and By” with Joe Hill’s parody “The Preacher and the Slave.” The result is a darkly cynical, and strikingly dissonant, reminder of movement infighting: “Chop some wood, do ya good, in the sweet bye and bye.”
The Hymn “Wade in the Water” is given an ambient accompaniment, turning the ancient and powerful tune into a kind of incantation. Riley Mulherkar’s beautiful “Looking Out,” culminates with a reading of FDR’s Executive Order 9066, which cleared the way for the incarceration of 120,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry. The arrangement of “Look for the Union Label,” a song which I remember as an upbeat, hopeful tune designed to make American consumers pleased with their purchases (for example link), is here given a darkly nostalgic setting; a not-so-subtle reminder that some movements have failed in the United States.
Of the more contemporary works, perhaps Andy Clausen’s setting of Agha Shahid Ali’s poem “Land” is most poignant and refreshing. Its style seems drawn from the musical or operatic stage in a kind of Aria that soliloquizes on a moment. Ali’s text is given as an interior thought, and the responding trumpet abstracts it beyond its time and place—an abstraction well represented in the ambiguous yet moving text. This track, as well as the textless vocalise, “Grandmar” which is described by composer Andy Clausen as “a meditation on the challenges of loving someone with whom you have vehement political disagreement,” stand apart from the others in that they seem to go beyond, or perhaps above, the left/right, progressive/conservative, tired, old, debate in this country.
On the other hand, some of the contemporarily written tracks also reflect the political division in our time. “Thoughts and Prayers” is directed at the common conservative reaction to mass shootings, and was inspired, according to the liner notes, “…by the words of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivor and activist Emma Gonzalez.” The song doesn’t call for gun control or gun reform, instead, it provides an admittedly poetic but still reactive criticism of the political right’s expression of empathy: “And we are standing together because all they can send are thoughts and prayers.” It is as if the reaction was the reason they marched, not the shooting. This isn’t a message crafted to bring people together or create the understanding and the compromise that can change laws; it is designed to activate the left and alienate the right. Given the current administration’s penchant for creating divisions of its own in order to maintain power I fret at this message, although I do understand that at times one must “preach to the choir.”
In all Theo Bleckmann and The Westerlies’ This Land is a beautiful collection that celebrates the history and diversity of protest music, providing new takes and context to old favorites even as it adds brilliant voices to the milieu. You should give it a listen on your way back from your next demonstration. Due for release on January 29th.
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Gateway Chamber Orchestra Presents:
Beethoven@250: Humanity in 2020
It is easy to forget that 2020 was supposed to be a celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday. Social unrest, contentious elections, and a global pandemic easily overshadow the events that many orchestras had been planning for years. During all this, performing arts groups have struggled to stay afloat financially. Numerous groups have switched to online concerts to stay relevant. Some, like the Berlin and Oslo Philharmonics, have been producing studio-quality concerts for years. Other groups seem like they have just discovered the internet. The latest concert from the Gateway Chamber Orchestra (GCO) was the group’s first foray into the digital space, but you would never be able to guess it because of its high production quality.
Founded in 2008, the Gateway Chamber Orchestra (GCO) has served the Middle Tennessee community with several classical music concerts each year. Led by Music Director Gregory Wolynec, the GCO regularly performs out of the Mabry Concert Hall at Austin Peay State University and The Franklin Theatre. The group has released a few records on the Delos and Summit Records labels. This digital concert, their first concert presented entirely online, is fittingly named “Beethoven@250: Humanity in 2020”. You can stream the concert on their website here: https://www.gatewaychamberorchestra.com
The video opens up with an introduction to the concert by Roberta Richardson, the President of the GCO Board of Directors. She gives a lovely primer on the history of the group, the COVID-19 induced situation that brought about this concert, and some background on the program’s first piece, Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture. Written in 1807 for Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s play about the Roman general Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, this overture is a staple of Beethoven’s oeuvre. The orchestra was all spaced six feet apart, with string players having their own stand. Every orchestra player was masked including, amusingly, the wind players, their reeds and mouthpieces poking through holes in their masks. Gregory Wolynec led the ensemble through the overture without a score in a blemish-free performance. There were a few timing issues that can be forgiven for the uncommon seating arrangement for the orchestra, but at the core this was a solid performance of a classic Beethovenian work.
After the Coriolan Overture, Dr. Michael Chandler, Head of Education and Outreach for the GCO, came onto the stage to talk about the GCO’s recent initiative to program music from underrepresented composers. This led into the next two pieces on the program: George Walker’s “Lyric for Strings” and Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst. Born in 1922 in Washington D.C., George Walker was a composer, organist, pianist, and teacher. In 1996 his piece Lilacs secured him the Pulitzer Prize for Music, which was the first time it was awarded to an African American. The Lyric for Strings is a six-minute work dedicated to Walker’s grandmother, who had escaped slavery. It is a slow, lush, and beautiful movement. Gregory Wolynec and the string section of the GCO really shone in this piece. Wolynec effortlessly stretched phrases to their endpoint and led the strings to a fantastic climax. The orchestra loosened up as well, the players moving as if in a chamber group instead of a larger orchestra. The effect is fantastic, and this piece became one of the highlights of the concert.
Afterwards, Roberta Richardson came back out to introduce Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst. Richardson mentioned how Montgomery was recently selected by the New York Philharmonic as one of their featured composers for Project 19, which highlights the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment. After the brief introduction the GCO took off with this short three-minute piece. Compositionally this piece was my favorite on the program, but the performance was a little weak. It is a fast, rhythmic, and technical work that tested the abilities of the GCO. In a program note to the piece, Montgomery wrote that this piece “is a play on imagery of rapidly changing musical colors. Exploding gestures are juxtaposed with gentle fleeting melodies in an attempt to create a multidimensional soundscape.” There is a joyful burst of fiery energy throughout the whole work. String harmonics shimmer out of thin air as heavy low strings ground the ensemble in a rhythmic pattern. Although the piece proved a challenge for the GCO, the character of the work still shone through.
After Starburst came a short intermission where Dr. Chandler first came out to talk about “Magical Music and Timeless Tales”, the new educational initiative undertaken by the GCO. Following that was a short somewhat-stiff conversation between Gregory Wolynec and Roberta Richardson about the COVID-19 precautions taken to ensure the safety of everyone in the orchestra, and how Beethoven’s works are the cornerstones of the modern orchestra repertory. Talking about the piece that will wrap up the concert, Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, Wolynec comments: “A symphony that I think, is just about perfect and it is so fitting for our theme of tragedy to triumph.”
Mounting the podium scoreless once again, Wolynec begins Beethoven’s symphony that is a celebration of rhythm and dance. From the first downbeat the GCO plays like a totally different ensemble from the first half. Nuances in the music come to the forefront, dynamics are clear and crisp, and the members of the orchestra play with increasing musicality. In a Beethoven symphony that has been presented countless times throughout the years it can be hard to find new ground in the piece, but the GCO unearth rich life in this 207-year-old piece.
The first movement’s introduction is noble and powerful, contrasting perfectly with the lighthearted vivace. The woodwinds steal the show in the first movement; brilliant playing by each member makes the piece as lively as ever. The second movement was dedicated to “All of the lives we lost in 2020” with the hope of brighter days to come. Wolynec starts the group off at a moderate pace and then does a fantastic job of backing off and letting the movement unfold on its own. Conductors, especially in this movement, can become too involved and bog down the music. In a symphony all about rhythm I appreciate when a conductor can lean into the rhythms and syncopations to really bring the piece to life.
The third movement was off to a rollicking start with the violins leading the way. Again, the GCO seemed right at home with this piece. They showed no discomfort at the quick tempo and were able to dance throughout. Even through a masked countenance, Wolynec encouraged the playfulness through eye contact and smiles. I couldn’t help but smiling as well throughout this whole movement. The last movement marked “Allegro con brio” could have used a little more ‘brio’ in my opinion; after all of the sparkling playing in the first three movements this finale should be the race to the end. At intermission, Wolynec called this piece “just about perfect” and made it evident through his clear interpretation and smooth music making. The GCO excelled in this work even through the difficulties of sitting spaced apart and playing through masks.
Overall, Beethoven@250: Humanity in 2020 is a great showing for the GCO. The playing in the first half was a tad lackluster, but the second half left little to be desired. Special mention should be given to the media team that produced this concert. High quality audio captured the sense of being live in the room and multiple camera angles were sure to catch all of the action. I salute any organization that can put on a concert during these times, and especially a concert of such high quality as this one. If you enjoy these concerts and enjoy the performing arts then I would highly recommend supporting organizations like this one.
Premieres in Music City:
chatterbird to Premiere Leila Adu’s ‘Mahakala Oratorio’
Originally scheduled as a live performance in March, the project has been reimagined as a one-of-a-kind video project with contributions from interactive media artist Aaron Sherwood and will take place on December 17 via livestream on chatterbird’s Facebook. Mahakala Oratorio will feature 14 chatterbird musicians as well as the composer performing as vocalist. Following the world premiere, chatterbird will host a virtual Q&A panel with Adu, chatterbird musicians, and others involved in the recording process. The Q&A will be facilitated by Colleen Phelps, the Host of “Classically Speaking” on Nashville Public Radio.
Mahakala Oratorio’s inspiration draws directly from the Buddhist deity of the same name. In her work, Leila Adu uses ancient texts describing Mahakala as a tool to empower listeners to consider the idea of radical compassion in this era of social, political, and environmental extremism. The music itself reflects Leila’s genre-mixing style, which draws on the traditional music of New Zealand; her informal training in punk, indie, and hip-hop as well as freely improvised music in the African-American free jazz tradition; and formal training for chamber ensemble and orchestra.
In the collective spirit of Mahakala’s themes, the video component will represent the work of many collaborators coming together through their diverse artistic backgrounds and varied geographic locations. Leila Adu will be recording her portion remotely from New York City. Chatterbird will record musicians in two separate groups to allow for adequate distancing, featuring in-studio recordings of each musician group spliced together into a single cohesive performance. Nashville-based videographer Lauren Balthrop and Abu Dhabi-based interactive media artist Aaron Sherwood will work in tandem to blend together the various recording locations and musical elements with visual components that are responsive to the music.
After the video premiere, chatterbird will work with Adu and Sherwood to engage youth from W.O. Smith Music School and YEAH! (Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities) through an educational workshop. Students will learn elements of coding related to Sherwood’s visual effects, and the composer will discuss her work, including the compositional process and themes of social activism. Chatterbird will also create an in-school curriculum for Metro Nashville Public School teachers that covers Leila Adu’s life, compositional influences, and themes from Mahakala.
An aTonalHits release
aTonal Hits ‘Movements’ — a wonderful listen for the coming wintry nights.
aTonal Hits is a small online team of Illya Filshtinskiy & Katha Zinn, and their prolific performing output shows them to be equally comfortable with Bach or Berg. While the duo has produced recordings of piano, string, and chamber repertoire from across all eras of western classical art music, they have particular focus on more modern output of Webern, Bartok, and the like. With this context, it piqued my curiosity to see what compositional style Filshtinskiy’s first album of original work would sound like. “Movements” was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. I had opportunity to pepper both performers with a barrage of questions, resulting in tidbits of interview insight to this review of the album.
Overall, “Movements” itself consists of 3 works, “Tokyo Movements” for violin & piano, which leads off the record and is coincidentally the ‘oldest’ composition dating back to 2015, then solo works for the individual instruments in the form of “Five Piano Movements” and a violin partita structurally fashioned after dance movements à la Bach. While an assumption may be reasonably made that this project was crafted during turbulent times to add to the pile of 2020 ‘quarantine albums,’
“The conception for the album in full was started quite a while ago, when Illya realized he had written enough pieces to actually put on an album! Lockdown certainly helped give us enough time to finish a lot of our projects in a more timely way, but this wasn’t specifically a lockdown project” (Zinn, Katha: personal interview, 2020).
The long gestation period of the creation of the pieces and their ultimate recording process was well served – for an album recorded partially at the aTonal home studio and partially at a studio in the Bronx, the quality is nearly indistinguishable from piece to piece. Mastering duties split by Gleb Kanasevich & Joe Patrych (who also engineered the recording of “Tokyo Movements”) should be duly noted, resulting in a finely crafted modern classical sound.
Considering the performance pedigree of Filshtinskiy, it may come as a surprise that Philip Glass would be an immediate comparison upon hearing the opening slow kinetic buildup of Tokyo Movements, but nevertheless an apt one. However, while listening through the album there may be plenty of small points of similarity to other composers to zero in on, but none quite pinpoint the sound that Filshtinskiy has achieved. Taking cues from such a huge range of sounds, from the gradual evolving textures and percussive elements of minimalist monoliths Glass or Riley, to some of the layered rhythmic polymetric beauty of postmodernists like David Lang or Kile Smith, he has successfully navigated the creation of a niche of captivating music all his own.
The opening, “Tokyo Movements” in particular has a subdued thread of energy winding through the piece. For dense modern music, it is well done that a piece like this could feel so ‘accessible’ while maintaining depth of composition and ensemble, but amongst the rhythmic interplay are beautiful harmonic progressions and expansive soundscapes. For a final comparison to Glass before laying that juxtaposition to rest – like Glass’s cinema scoring, each movement of the Tokyo Movements has a short video vignette to accompany it, matching the three movements titles of “Tokyo (Train Songs”, “Night Streets”, and “The Gamer”); filmed by Filshtinskiy himself, these are worth tracking down for a multidisciplinary audio-visual experience.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uT-CqT9sYE
“Five Piano Movements” opens with a similar rhythmic vibe to the Tokyo Movements, but the inner movements veer into some more discordant textures, to their benefit. We can grasp at straws to compare to Bolcomb or Albright’s “Will-o-the-Wisp” movements or Shoenberg’s arpeggiations in his Klavierstucke, but Filshtinskiy’s combination of minimalism with more frenetic melodic ideas is an inventive setting. The close, intimate piano recording serve the “Meditative” and “Homage” movements as a deeply personal listen, a bit mid-range frequency heavy but still clear and sustained.
Where the “Five Piano Movements” reject pigeonholed comparison, the solo Violin Partita wears its Baroque influence proudly on its sleeve – at least in overall structure. While shadings of Bach may be present in the arpeggiations of the Prelude or the contrapuntal duetting in the Saraband, the overall tension of minor 9ths and open 5ths recurring through the work give it an uneasy energy and malaise. This is especially effective in the Saraband, as well as the Scherzo with its decidedly un-Baroque syncopations. The longer movements are the jewels of this work, the final movement Pendulum especially, as it gradually builds and extends off the initial ostinato to a dizzying climax of dynamic bariolage that maintains its apex for a long two minutes of sustained sound.
Despite the coronavirus hampering the post-release performing in support of a new album, the aTonal Hits duo of Illya Filshinskiy and Katha Zinn are hardly resting on their laurels. With further album projects steadily on the horizon (a complete Brahms Violin & Piano Sonatas project is on deck), their catalogue of performance-ready repertoire is ever-shifting. Listeners will have to keep an eye out for when these pieces will make an appearance in their live programming – “Our next [program] will be more Bach and a deeply austere Ustvolskaya Sonata, and maybe the next will circle back to one of my pieces, some Ysaye and some Chopin. Who knows!”(Filshtinskiy, Illya; 2020). In the meantime, with sheet music available, capable performers can dig in to these pieces on their own, or continue to enjoy them in their recorded form. “Movements” is a wonderful listen for the coming wintry nights.
A New Release from Avie:
Mythologies from Anna Clyne
On October 16th, 2020 AVIE Records released Mythologies, a feature on the composer Anna Clyne. This album includes five orchestral compositions, composed over a decade, recorded live by the BBC Concert Orchestra and led by four various conductors.
Anna Clyne is a British composer and artistic collaborator who has had a career that has brought her music before premiere ensembles and to audiences across the globe. Previously, from 2010-2015, she served as the Composer-in-residence for the Chicago Symphony under Riccardo Muti and she now serves as the Associate Composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Before I was asked to write this review, I was not intimately familiar with Clyne’s music. I was excited to hear new music with fresh ears and I was not disappointed. First off, I was happy to see that the album artwork actually featured art. Recently it seems as if every album has a company logo bordering a stiff looking performer staring noncommittally off in the distance. The Mythologies album artwork features fairy-tale like drawings of allusions to the various works included on the album. Josh Dorman, the artist responsible, shows a seamstress sewing on craggy rocks while a ferry traverses the seas, among other images.
The first track featured is the premiere recording of Masquerade, a five-minute orchestral firework. Composed in 2013, this piece was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the Last Night of the Proms. The piece, bursting with energy, reflects its title well. The piece makes it easy to imagine walking through the streets of a Masquerade ball seeing Jesters juggling, acrobats flying, and many people walking by in colored masks. The BBC Symphony Orchestra delivers and aural whirlwind. Occasionally sweet or rollicking vignettes poke through the flurry of vigorous string scales like glimpsing the eye of a cyclone.
The next track is This Midnight Hour, another storm, but instead of being exhilarating, this storm is dark and menacing. This work was commissioned by the Orchestra national d’Île-de-France and the Seattle Symphony in 2015. Clyne drew inspiration for this work from two poetic sources. The first poem, by Juan Ramón Jiménez (translated by Robert Bly) sets the opening mood:
Music –
a naked woman
running mad through the pure night!
Heavy strings set up a dark ostinato-like rhythm while woodwind flurries spin above. The woman’s mad screams erupt in the night as brass punctuations. A shrieking piccolo solo and haunting pizzicato show this demented cavalcade. The second poetic inspiration is Harmonie du soir, by Charles Baudelaire. This poem is an elicitation of the night and is Clyne depicts the “Melancholy waltz and languid vertigo!” with an oboe waltz starting halfway through the piece. The other woodwinds join into this lilting waltz, but it is overcome by the shrieking woman again. The piece gradually decrescendos into a hint of the dawn, but a blast from the bass drum reminds us that night will come again. This was easily my favorite piece on the album.
The Seamstress serves as the centerpiece of this CD, and as previously mentioned, features prominently on the album artwork. It was commissioned and written in 2014, while she was Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony. It features Jennifer Koh as the dazzling violin soloist for the piece. Although listed underneath the ‘Concerto’ heading on Clyne’s website, this is more of an orchestral piece that has a solo violin foreground. The piece opens with Koh playing a simple, sad, folksy melody. Five minutes into the piece we hear stereophonic gasping inhales of Irene Buckley who serves as a narrator who later interjects snippets of William Butler Yeats’ poem A Coat. This piece serves as the slower contrast to the first two, although it is not a sweet serenade, the work is still heavy and deeply troubled. It is a real testament to Clyne’s talent for orchestration. Clyne summarized the piece the best herself by saying: “The Seamstress is an imaginary one-act ballet. Alone on the stage, the seamstress is seated, unraveling threads from an antique cloth laid gently over her lap. Lost in her thoughts, her mind begins to meander and her imagination spirals into a series of five tales that range from love to despair, and that combine memory with fantasy.”
Next on the album, Night Ferry, immediately propels us back into the energetic sound world of Masquerade and This Midnight Hour. Written in 2012 for the Chicago Symphony this piece was my least favorite of the album. It was not bad by any means, but I felt as if the piece lost its way throughout the twenty-minute work. Waves of strings crash over a frequent and prominent rhythmic syncopation produced by muted trumpets and bass drums. This piece is again explosive and terrifying, the BBC Concert Orchestra does an immaculate job of bringing the score to life. Also inspired by poetry, this piece illustrates Seamus Heaney’s Elegy for Robert Lowell:
You were our Night Ferry
thudding in a big sea
the whole craft ringing
with an armourer’s music
the course set wilfully across
the ungovernable and dangerous.
Last on the album is “<<rewind<<” and reminded me of a darker Short Ride on a Fast Machine by John Adams. It has a similar energy but moves between contrasting sections with more ease. Quick pulsing rhythms shine through a churning and moaning ambiguous low string and trombone opening. One spot of slight respite from the intensity gives a solo violin the chance to give a small melody over the low aching ensemble that eventually overtakes the violin. Dissonances and rhythmic strength become quite extreme towards the end. Composed in 2005 this is the oldest work included on this album. As noted in the album liner notes by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim Clyne “was inspired by the image of a video tape being scrolled backwards, with glitchy spots where it skips, freezes or warps.”
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. I thought it was a great introduction to Anna Clyne and her music with the five fantastic pieces that were chosen. I look forward to seeking out more music from her.
Live on the Internet:
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performs Beethoven’s Egmont
Initially, one may ponder if Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday really needs to be celebrated with performances offered in his memory. Does extra attention need paid to a composer who is canonized every year, throughout the world, in various genres? Should programming instead attempt to draw relevant parallels to current events in hopes of providing some insight and reflection about modern conflicts? Fortunately for us, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has managed to do both with their most-recent production of Egmont, Op. 84.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1788 play, Egmont, has been adapted by Franz Grillparzer, with an English translation and further adaptions made by Philip Boehm for this production. Action centers around Count Egmont’s martyrdom in protest of the occupying forces under the command of the Spanish invader, the Duke of Alba. Championing the ideals of liberty and justice, Egmont’s death is celebrated as a victory against oppression. Beethoven composed a series of incidental music movements between October 1809 – June 1810 to enhance Goethe’s text. This music was written shortly after Beethoven had completed his Fifth Symphony – a time when both the Napoleonic Wars and Beethoven’s political views were raging.
…a time when both the Napoleonic Wars and Beethoven’s political views were raging.
It may seem puzzling for a revolutionary like Beethoven to collaborate with a courtier like Goethe. Perhaps, but despite their different sociopolitical leanings, there remained a mutual respect amongst the two creative geniuses for each other’s work – an impressive siloed restraint of bipartisanship. Equally impressive is the recent performance of this work by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Filmed on October 1 at the Beechwood Park Bandshell in Hillsdale, New Jersey, the performance is available for viewing from October 17-22 via the Idagio platform online.
The musicians were seated with a degree of social distancing between every performer. String and percussion forces remained masked the entire performance, whereas woodwind and brass musicians did not use masks or any form of instrument coverings. Narrator, Liev Schreiber, and vocal soloist, Karen Slack, removed their masks just before their respective first contribution to the performance, never again using facial coverings for the remainder of the work.
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra programmed Tarkmann’s arrangement of Egmont. This setting uses reduced orchestral forces, specifically a single flute – doubling on piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, and one percussionist, in addition to the expected string consort compliment. While effective, some density of the original composition is lost with omitted octaves in lieu of a more transparent harmonic texture.
Liev Schreiber’s enchanting vocal cadence effectively captures focus from the beginning. The varied use of inflection and pacing successfully helps to navigate one through a complex network of emotion. Schreiber’s opening dialogue delivers a hauntingly familiar sentiment for those frustrated with the current political climate, offering the belief that, “. . . but in their hearts, they are yearning for the past.” This desire for a more ideal time is obstructed by our antagonist, the Duke of Alba, who’s objective is to, “quash dissent.” Yet another familiar political tweeting muse. The exchange between the musicians and the narrator has been finely tuned and proves to be a welcomed retreat from the noise of other interrupting facets of modern life.
Not to be forgotten is Karen Slack. Ms. Slack is a seasoned performer whose stage presence and vocal command is inspiring. The two vocal movements, “Die Trommel gerühret” and “Freudvoll und leidvoll,” leave one wishing that this work included additional movements that would feature her voice. Slack currently has a busy artistic season scheduled, of which a world premiere by Adolphus Halistork is rather intriguing. Aspiring to achieve such truth through performance as Slack does, makes ‘being a Karen’ no longer a pejorative.
The third incidental music setting, “Entracte: Andante,” was highlighted by Eric Reed’s horn playing. The agility used to reach the highest of registers proved to be impressively controlled. Leading into the sixth setting, Goethe offers that, “What words can’t tell, music will convey.” James Austin Smith’s oboe playing then certainly requires multiple volumes. The cantabile quality achieved by Smith throughout “Entracte: Allegro-Marcia” was paired with a clarity of articulation and a convincing ability to prepare cadential moments that, in turn, felt inevitable. Maya Gunji’s timpani playing further enhanced the performance later in this same movement, contributing an assured and unyielding depiction of the passing time.
Gunji’s playing later gives way to the lyrical ‘mezza voce’ mourning of clarinetist Alan Kay in the next setting, “Entracte: Poco sostenuto e risoluto.” Kay’s moving contribution is a deployment exquisitely supported by Gina Cuffari on bassoon. Elizabeth Mann’s flute playing enhances the penultimate movement, “Melodram: ‘Süßer Schlaf,’ before Louis Hanzlik’s trumpet playing courageously heralds “Siegessymphonie: Allegro con brio” and encourages the ensemble to energetically reach the conclusion.
Various camera angles and musically driven editing keeps one’s interest while still maintaining focus on the composition. Some ambient noises can be heard, and, on a few occasions, camera angles include a parking lot in the background of some shots. While the two aforementioned realities are noticeable, I would stop well short of suggesting that they are distracting. I have yet to attend a live concert where the unspoken compromise of undesired audience participation – coughing, dropped programs, loud whispering, et. al – is not willingly waged for the chance to experience the magic inherent with live performance. I would suggest ‘going all in’ to view this production.
With recent notices signaling the cancellation of seasons by the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and Broadway, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra should be commended for its willingness to adapt and find flexible solutions to continue safely creating art. This performance of Beethoven’s Egmont, Op. 84, feels to exist in the vernacular of society’s current struggle to define its desired trajectory of morality. Our desire to define our North Star, be it rising stock markets, law and order, an empathetic awareness that we can only be as strong as our weakest member, or a combination thereof, has been brilliantly mirrored through this performance.
Nashville Opera
One Vote Won: A Streaming Must-See
Ask anyone from six months ago what they’d be doing right about now, and I’m sure it would be far different from what we’re pulling off now. For musicians, composers, actors and actresses, artists, and admin, this current cycle in the thing we call life is a weary one. Couple this reality with tense race relations and ever-increasing inequity, and it’s as if the world may never recover. While many seek a return to the status quo, the Nashville Opera is taking a different approach. With One Vote Won, the company is rightfully meeting the moment we face as a society. Composed of diverse musicians and a cast that encompasses some of the best talents in Music City, with varying musical excellence and acting to boot, the virtual premiere of this work by composer Dave Ragland is significant. This year has brought lots of surprises, for better or for worse. That said, this premiere is the best surprise to rise from the ashes of 2020. Composed by Dave Ragland with a libretto by Mary McCallum, One Vote Won is a work that brings together a brilliant Nashville cast in a unique and inspiring way.
The opera begins by introducing us to Gloria (Tamica Nicole), a contemporary woman whose character we gradually become familiar with as the work progresses. A sharp mix of humor, wit, and powerful composition, the beginning introduces us to Gloria’s world, as well as her thinking. She’s discouraged with the state of things, and frankly, who isn’t these days? We see a character that strays from the prima donna we’re used to seeing in many operas. But what’s unique about Gloria is that very fact – she’s relatable, funny, and Tamica Nicole flawlessly encapsulates this personality through incredible prose. From the impressive leaps and overall melodrama, Gloria is a character with dazzling range and passion (for Disney+ and Hulu, that is).
“People sleeping in the streets” begins our next sequence, as Gloria takes a walk to clear her head but can’t keep from focusing on these stark truths in plain sight. A reality that one would think was from the pen of a composer in less fair and less equal times. Gloria is one that Ragland and McCallum can paint so eloquently – a woman who is independent and questions so firmly the possibility of change. 2020 is a year when it’s easier than ever to become demoralized. But just as we look back on Mozart and Beethoven to conjure a picture of the hardships they lived, so future generations will too with works like One Vote Won. Will we confront the past and change for the better? Gloria isn’t convinced, and as these opening scenes in particular point out, change is long overdue.
As the story continues, we also become familiar with two titans of progress. These two women are having a field day in Gloria’s mind, as she fails to block them out as they shout, “go vote!” The identity of one of these hidden figures is then revealed as Juno Frankie Pierce, played by the incredible Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva. Frankie Pierce, born to a house slave, was the only African American to address the May 1920 state suffrage convention held in the Tennessee House chamber, and ultimately was the founder of the Tennessee Vocational School for Colored Girls. Whitcomb-Oliva brings life to Frankie Pierce in a way that urgently recounts her history. “What if one woman decided not to vote?” Pierce pleads her case to Gloria. The range and dictation in the two character’s recitative as Frankie Pierce plays devil’s advocate is flawlessly executed, even with the actors and musicians not filming together for social distancing purposes. Gloria exclaims that even years later, we’re still fighting, and she keeps pressing the fact that her voice doesn’t matter. Again, the opera focuses on subject matter that can feel close to home for so many. There are pronounced nuances to the composition in-turn, such as how the libretto carefully intermingles with the tone-poem style playing of the stripped-down orchestra.
Despite Pierce recounting her history to no avail, the audience then discovers the second voice in Gloria’s head. Diane Nash, portrayed by Nashville’s own Brooke Leigh Davis, was a crucial figure in the civil rights and antiwar movements from 1959 to 1967. She was instrumental in the desegregation of Nashville’s lunch counters and also heavily involved with Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful protests as well as the Freedom Rides. Most notably, Nash is still alive today, a sheer reminder of how close this history still is to our modern times. The biggest challenge of acting a character that is still alive and making it a success is all about the authenticity and realness you can bring to them. As with the rest of the cast, Leigh Davis is a mighty singer and is not ashamed to hold back, ultimately providing that much more interest and color to this work as a whole. An important quality, especially for an opera that cannot premiere in person. While Nash is still from a different era than our contemporary Gloria, the viewer can tell that Nash is still just as relevant today as she was then. Nash paints her history with a brush that consists of dynamic vocals accompanied by intense passages performed by musicians Shelly Blair, Cremaine Booker, and Konson Patton.
The scene briskly pivots to tell of how Nash proudly led many Nashville sit-ins and ultimately confronted the local mayor, Ben West, to convince him to desegregate lunch counters. Still, even Nash’s bravery and sacrifice told through intriguing cut-scenes offer no success. In spite of Pierce and Nash being ghastly opposed to Gloria’s thinking, Ragland is still able to open a window and intrinsically show why she feels this discouragement. This sentiment felt, frankly, by many African Americans across the United States. “To be oppressed, you have to agree,” exclaims Nash, right before the audience is whisked again into one of the most powerful and arguably most musically fascinating scenes of the work.
The last few minutes shift to a tour-de-force of all three women contending with jazzy undertones and the most epic libretto of the piece. At last, Gloria’s tone has changed. As she recites the names of black people that have died at the hands of police violence, she ultimately convinces herself that the change that’s needed is too crucial and not worth dismissing. Through the scenes prior and with a final beautiful duet, Frankie and Diane show Gloria how change can happen through many different means, and ultimately her vote is a good start.
As arts organizations across the country and the world reckon with a past that has excluded and marginalized certain groups, it is new and relevant works such as One Vote Won that is needed more than ever. Despite all of its faults, art has a history of adaptation that progresses because of this age-old notion of creating new and meaningful things that impact our lives. That said, recording and streaming an opera that is live-sung is no easy feat. Streaming, of course, also brings with it a multitude of technicalities that could further alienate viewers. Nevertheless, seasoned Nashville Opera listeners expect this forward-thinking attitude from the company. But it begs the question, will the opera reach its intended audience that it means to persuade? Is this the sign of an industry that’s ready to change and confront its past while moving towards a brighter future that is more inclusive and aware? One Vote Won is smart, epic, and meets the moment in a way unique to Nashville Opera. “It’s time to make a change” ends the piece. Indeed time will tell what the future brings, but as Dave Ragland’s incredible work points out, change starts with you. And me. And them.
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Live Music in Nashville
Nashville Composer Collective at Asaph’s Chamber
This past Sunday afternoon (September 20th) the Nashville Composer Collective (NCC) put on their 22nd program in Belmont University’s intimate Asaph’s Chamber. Chairs were spread out out throughout the space either alone or in pairs and accommodated about 25 audience members. The concert, lasting barely under an hour, was an unpretentious presentation of six varying works and resulted in six individual successes. Personally, I was tremendously excited for this performance as it was the first live music event I have attended in over half a year.
John Darnall, Director of the NCC, introduced each piece and its’ composer, offering them the opportunity to say a few words about their work. First up was Melanie Alvey with her piece Mountain Echoes orchestrated for three violins (one electrically amplified and hooked up to a looping station), viola, cello, and electric bass. Opening with a solo violin creating a multi layered loop of an asymmetric groove, gradually the rest of the ensemble comes in building on the established beat. This piece was pleasing both aurally and visually seeing the opposing violins echoing gracefully back and forth to each other over the ostinato. Mountain Echoes was a personal favorite of mine on the concert and it is always a treat to see the composer performing their own work.
Up next was Jack Williams’ Emergence for string quartet. Steeped in 20th century compositional techniques, Emergence is a mature piece that gripped me from the start. Quartal and quintal harmonies mix with contrapuntal techniques, motives bounce around the ensemble, and lyrical melodies are contrasted with jagged sections. Although there was much going on throughout the piece, one never lost their way and could easily follow the logic of the piece.
After two string ensembles the concert moved to Joodils by Andre Madatian for flute and piano. Translated from Armenian, Joodils means “Little Bird.” This work was written for his Grandmother who recently passed and who always enjoyed bird song. The flute, depicting the bird calls, was complemented with the supportive harmonies of Nathan Girard at the piano who occasionally also echoed some of the bird calls. Special appreciation should be given to Jess Benevento on the flute, who tackled the virtuosic flute part with great poise and fantastic technique. Overall Joodils was a great joyful piece that is a fantastic memorial to Andre’s grandmother’s memory.
Beginning the second portion of the event was Jeremy Smith’s song cycle I Don’t Admire You Like I Did When I was 21 In the Spring. This included three short songs: Drug Store Train Trip, Jersey, and Your Apartment in Soho. Jeremy set the words of Aurora Bodenhamer, a poet who he found on Instagram (and also did the hand drawn cartoons for the accompanying lyric sheet). Erin Hildebrandt, sang her way beautifully through the score which was filled with tricky harmonic intervals and impressive leaps. The music was thickly set to the rather unassuming poems, and Jeremy was able to draw out the humor and color of the words.
Kyle Baker’s Divertimenti for Clarinet and Piano was up next. This was a beautiful piece that featured the clarinet, played brilliantly by Raymond Ridley. Melodies led the piece from one section to the next with the clarinet usually taking the lead. It was solidly constructed and would make for a great repertoire piece for any clarinetist. My one complaint is that we were only treated to the first movement, entitled Wandering.
Ending the program was the first movement of John Darnall’s “String Quartet #1” that he was recently commissioned to write. Similar to the other quartet on the program, this piece drew inspiration from 20th century techniques, and John masterfully infused them with his own colors and ideas. Of particular interest to me was the wonderful treatment of the pizzicato within the piece. Sometimes it served as an accompaniment to other melodies, and in differing places it was a technique featured throughout the entire ensemble.
The concert was a great success for each of the composers and the whole Nashville Composer Collective ensemble. It is always a treat to hear new music, and especially so when the composer is still alive and able to talk to you about their work. I look forward to attending many more concerts and supporting the NCC in all that they do, and I would encourage anyone reading to support the ensemble.
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Nashville Opera
An Opera Premiere from Nashville Opera…THIS WEEKEND!
Nashville Opera will open its season with a commission, N.O.’s first, in a performance of the election day drama One Vote One with music composed by Tennessee native David Ragland and libretto by Mary McCallum. Originally hailing from Chattanooga, Ragland has been on the Nashville scene for some time now, I first heard his music in his beautiful arrangement of spirituals at the Upon these Shoulders celebration at Fisk University in 2017, and he made his directorial debut with the Nashville Opera during the 2013-14 season in their production of David Lang’s “The Difficulty of Crossing a Field.” His Steal Away was originally scheduled with Oz Arts in April, but had to be cancelled because of COVID19. McCallum, who has written for stage and screen including Singleville (2018) and the fictional historical play Six Triple Eight (2015), is a wise choice for the libretto.
These two artists will be able to share their talents for historical depiction in One Vote One with a plot that includes suffragist Frankie Pierce (played by Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva) and Civil Rights activist Diane Nash (played by Brooke Leigh Davis) as they work to convince a young Gloria (played by Tamica Nicole Harris) that her vote counts.. Never an organization to shy away from a political topic, Director John Hoomes and company are working with the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation to create a study guide that meets Tennessee standards for U.S. history (click through, the study guide is VERY well done!)
